A Scottsdale spousal support attorney can help you to understand Arizona laws on spousal support. You need to understand these laws at the time of your marriage so you can make certain that you have made informed choices to protect your future financial security in case of a divorce. You also need to ensure you understand how these laws apply at the time when your marriage is coming to an end.
Singer Pistiner, P.C. provides advice to couples entering into a marriage and to couples ending a marriage. One of the key issues that a Scottsdale spousal support attorney at out firm can offer you is advice on whether or not you can avoid spousal support with a prenuptial agreement.
Give us a call to find out how a prenup will work to determine what happens with spousal support based on the impact of a prenuptial agreement.
Avoiding Spousal Support with a Prenup
Arizona law allows for a prenuptial agreement to control many different issues that arise at the time when a marriage comes to an end. However, you need to ensure that you have followed the rules for a valid prenuptial agreement as outlined in Arizona Revised Statutes Title 25.
Title 25 section 25-202 specifically sets forth the rules for assessing the validity of a prenuptial agreement. The rules stipulate that the agreement has to be in writing and has to be signed by both of the spouses. It is not enforceable if it was unconscionable at the time when executed if there was no reasonable disclosure of property or financial obligations, or if there was no voluntary written waiver of the right to disclosure of property and obligations.
As long as the agreement is enforceable and does not violate public policy, clauses on spousal support found within the prenuptial agreement will generally be considered legally valid. This means that it is possible to avoid spousal support with a prenup if both parties agree that a divorce will not result in alimony being paid.
There is an exception to this rule found in section 25-202. If the prenuptial agreement contains a clause which modifies the normal amount of spousal support that would be due, or if it eliminates a spousal support obligation, the lower income spouse could sometimes become eligible for public assistance. If the enforcement of the spousal support waiver or modification causes this to happen, then the court can order alimony to be paid in such an amount that eliminates this eligibility and makes public benefits unnecessary. This can be ordered regardless of what the prenuptial agreement says.
Divorcing with a Prenuptial Agreement
If you have a prenuptial agreement in place that allows you to avoid paying spousal support, you want to make certain that you have convincing arguments to raise during your divorce for why this agreement should control on the spousal support issue.
A Scottsdale spousal support attorney can help you to negotiate an out-of-court divorce settlement agreement in which there is no spousal support to be paid based on the clause in your prenup. If your ex tries to argue that spousal support is appropriate anyway and the case ends up in litigation, we can help you to try to convince the court to enforce your spousal support order.
If you are divorcing and you want to argue that a prenup in which you waived spousal support should not be enforced, we can also provide you with representation during your divorce proceedings. We can assist you in making arguments to show why the prenup was not valid. Arguments range from a technical failure to put clauses in appropriate and understandable written form to a claim that you signed the prenup while under duress and it should thus not be enforced. The goal in these circumstances is to have either the entire prenup invalidated, or to have specific clauses related to spousal support declared unenforceable.
Getting Help from A Scottsdale Spousal Support Attorney
Singer Pistiner, P.C. can provide you with help in drafting a legally valid prenup which contains appropriate clauses related to the issue of spousal support. We can also provide assistance in negotiating with your soon-to-be spouse about the agreement to make sure you can come to a compromise on a prenuptial agreement that provides you the desired protections.
To find out more about the assistance a Scottsdale spousal support attorney can provide to you in protecting your financial security, give us a call at (480) 418-7011 or contact us online to speak with a member of our legal team.